Vin Diesel and Virgil Williams Team for Boxing Drama at NBC (Exclusive)

Left, courtesy of Rogers and Cowan; Right, Getty Images

Vin Diesel (left), Virgil Williams

The script sale is part of the 'Fast and the Furious' star's overall deal at Universal TV.

Vin Diesel is revving up his TV development slate.

The Fast and the Furious star is teaming with Mudbound scribe Virgil Williams for a boxing drama set up at NBC, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Titled Crushers Club, the hourlong project revolves around a struggling boxing gym, which serves as a second home for kids in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods. The gym gains an unlikely ally in Sonia, a single mom from the suburbs who has found new purpose in her life.

Williams will write the script and executive produce with Diesel through his One Race Television banner. One Race TV head Shana C. Waterman is also on board as a co-executive producer. Universal Television, where Diesel and Williams are both under overall deals, will produce.

This is the second development season sale for Williams, who recently sold the cop drama Hard Knocks to Fox. After six seasons as a writer-producer on CBS' Criminal Minds, Williams exited in June for a multiyear deal at Universal TV. He also is the co-writer on the upcoming Netflix film Mudbound, which is expected to be an awards-season contender. The Dee Rees-helmed film is already set to receive the Special Jury Prize at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. Williams' other credits include 24, The Chicago Code and ER. He is repped by CAA, The Shuman Company and attorneys Eric Sherman and P.J. Shapiro.

Crushers Club is one of three projects from One Race TV in the works this season, with the others being a reboot of Miami Vice, also at NBC, and a reboot of Get Christie Love at ABC.

After founding his production shingle in 1995, Diesel expanded to television in 2002. In addition to his starring roles in Universal's Fast and the Furious filmfranchise (of which he has produced five pics, and ninth and tenth installments are in the works), the actor's other credits include xXx and A Man Apart as well as Pitch Black and its two sequels.